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Sunday, March 9, 2008

Fat Loss and Protein; Jon's Question

Trainee, Jon, asked what was the reason I recommended getting 20% your daily calories from protein. The short answer is that adequate protein is harder to consume when you are restricting calories. Protein is necessary to build and maintain muscle. If you cut total calories too much, then the body will breakdown your muscle for energy.

When cutting Calories to reach your "target Calories," the first step is to cut out extra, refined carbohydrates (i.e. soda, juice, snacks, chips, etc). That step alone will increase the amount of Calories you are receiving from protein. However, to reach 20% you will have to try to get a significant amount of protein with each meal (10-15 grams, 4-6 meals per day). If you don't go too extreme in your Caloric restriction, then you should receive adequate protein and energy to allow you to slowly tap into your body fat and not lose (or possibly gain) muscle.